The AFL-CIO’s latest report on the state of safety and health protections for America’s workers reveals alarming stats, indicating a lot more needs to be done to protect workers from job injuries, illnesses, and deaths. The report came out shortly before Workers Memorial Day which fell on April 28.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act has been in effect for more than 50 years. The landmark law is credited with saving more than 668,000 lives through safety regulations against dangerous chemicals and working conditions.
Despite significant progress, workers are still very vulnerable as employers and many members of Congress have intensified attacks on unions and workplace rights and protections. Besides efforts to shift the responsibility of job safety from the employers to the employees, they have also tried to weaken agencies that protect workplace safety.
According to the AFL-CIO’s 2023 edition of Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, some alarming stats related to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) include:
AFGE has been sounding the alarm on the need to increase funding for OSHA to hire more staff to conduct worksite inspections.
“OSHA needs additional staff to conduct onsite inspections and develop standards needed to protect workers, like the Workplace Violence Prevention standard AFGE and other unions petitioned OSHA to develop,” said AFGE President Everett Kelley. “I am encouraged that the White House’s 2024 budget proposal includes a 17% increase in OSHA’s funding. The AFL-CIO’s report shows the critical need for additional funding.”
Other highlights from the report:
In 2021:
The AFL-CIO is asking Congress to take several steps to protect workers, including increasing funding for job safety agencies, passing the Protecting America’s Workers Act to expand protections to more workers, and opposing attempts by corporations to weaken workplace safety under the guise of “reform.”
AFGE will continue to fight for safety in the workplace.
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